McClain: Familiar song and dance leads to Texans’ playoff exit

The Patriots found a way to run and pass successfully against the Texans. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The same problems that plagued the Texans over the last month of the regular season — when they lost three of four games and blew home-field advantage — contributed mightily to Sunday’s 41-28 loss to New England.

For the second consecutive season, the Texans were eliminated in the divisional round because they didn’t make enough plays when they needed them, made too many mistakes at the worst time, failed to take advantage of opportunities, and consistently failed on third down.

The first series of the game was a good example of why the Texans went home early again.

Safety Danieal Manning returned the opening kickoff 94 yards to the Patriots’ 12-yard line. A team that had been horrible in the red zone over the last four games — scoring touchdowns 23 percent of the time compared with 65 percent through the first 13 games — failed miserably again.

When Shayne Graham came on the field for a 27-yard field goal, it was a victory for the Patriots’ defense.

In the third quarter, the Patriots scored to take a 24-13 lead. With 4:20 left in the quarter, the Texans faced third down at the New England 38. Matt Schaub threw an interception when he tried to toss the ball to James Casey, but defensive end Rob Nichovich caught it and took off.

“We made a lot of plays and had opportunities to make plays, and we missed on a few of them,” Schaub said after throwing for 343 yards and two touchdowns.

Schaub overthrew Andre Johnson in the back of the end zone. James Casey and Arian Foster dropped passes.

“We just need to make plays; that’s what it came down to today,” Johnson said after catching eight passes for 95 yards. “We left some plays on the field today. That’s pretty much it.”

3rd-down woes all around
One thing the Texans did manage to fix against the Patriots was their red zone offense. They scored two touchdowns on three trips inside the 20.

Third down was a different matter. During the regular season, the Texans finished 17th in third-down conversions with 37.6 percent. They were just 4-of-15 (27 percent) against the Patriots.

“It’s frustrating, man,” offensive tackle Duane Brown said. “In the third quarter, we needed to get some first downs and give our defense some opportunities, but we couldn’t stay on the field.

“You have to establish the line of scrimmage, and we didn’t do that. It’s a mentality.”

New England converted six of 13 third-down attempts (46 percent). The Texans allowed 33 percent, tied for third in the league, during the regular season.

Last season, the Texans converted 41.5 percent and allowed 35.8.

Not enough — period
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips wasn’t happy with his defense, specifically against the run. The Texans entered the game allowing 97.5 rushing yards per game. They gave up only 80 in the wild-card round victory over Cincinnati.

Of the Patriots’ 457 yards, 122 came on the ground. They averaged 5.1 yards a carry and ran for two touchdowns.

“We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “We needed to create turnovers on defense, and we didn’t do that.”

The Texans didn’t create more than one turnover in their last six games, counting the playoffs.

“I didn’t do enough today, and we didn’t do enough today,” Watt said.

Indeed, they didn’t, and now their season ends too early. It was a season of promise and hope, a season that began so successfully and ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

The road to the Super Bowl could have gone through Houston, but now it goes through Foxborough. Again.